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How do you handle smokers?

i had a run the other night when the person was notified and fully understood ahead of time that there was no smoking and everyone was reminded by the driver before the run. he caught someone smoking anyway and had to pull over and say put that out or we arent going anywhere.

how do you guys handle situations like this? i was thinking that mabye i should put something in the contract saying that they forfeit $150 for each smoking instance.

We have it listed in our contract and we remind every ride once they get in the vehicle that there is no smoking. I have zero tolerance for smokers if they light up after my warning it is a $275 charge for the 1st incident and the second time it happens the ride is terminated on the spot with no refund. Harsh maybe, but luckily we have yet to enforce this rule; I wish I could say the same about the pukers.

I have done some runs where we have to do smoke breaks every 15 minutes I donít have a problem with that at all. I will stop as much as they want to smoke and it only makes their trip cost that much more by adding on the hours.

I once had a guy tell me, ďWhat is the purpose of renting a limousine if I cannot smoke cigars and drink brandy?Ē I assured him we could stop along the way to smoke his cigars. He told me if he was spending X amount an hour he would smoke if he wanted to. This guy was pissed off when I refused to book a limousine for him; however he made it quite clear he was not going to follow the rules. I would rather turn down a run than have to kick them out half way thru.

In North Carolina we have cities named after cigarettes! Our contract says $100.00 first offense, termination of ride on second. I have clients who want to stop for a break, and I agree, the clock is still ticking- stop all you want!

Just out of curiosity, do you guys have a no-smoking tolerance b/c it's your state law or just your preference? I worked for a large company in NYC for years and I don't recall one incident where a client was charged extra or a ride was terminated due to smoking. I got several driver complaints but no fees were ever added to the clients bill. I'm a smoker and in all of my car service trips, I've never actually smoked in the vehicle, but I've never been told not to either.

Limousines are meant to be luxury vehicles. We do not allow smoking because it stinks up the limousines and if you have ever been in a smokers car it is also full of burn holes which I do not want in the back of any of my limousines. We pride ourselves on running new, highly maintained vehicles if clients want to smoke then they can call a cab company and they wonít have to worry about being charged for smoking since you will surely find numerous cabs that already smell like smoke and have burn holes.

A state law would be great here in Florida, however it is not a huge issue most people respect the fact that these are well taken care of vehicles and do not attempt to smoke. I am a non smoker and I will only hire non smoking chauffeurs. I know even smokers would complain if they rented a limousine and is smelled like a musty cigarette filled bar. So long answer but thatís why we donít allow it.

There are a lot if stupid drivers/clients out there that think they can smoke with the window cracked and you won't be able to tell. My buddy(owns his own limo company) picked me up in his brand new Suburban. I asked him who had been smoking and he got mad at me and said nobody. I told him my nose doesn't lie and promised him someone was smoking. He told me nobody had driven it and he only bought it a week ago. I finally got it out of him. One of his drivers drove it from the shop to his house. I would have fired the guy on the spot or at least put a permanant tattoo of my hand print on his face. Some people just have no respect.

That's probably why I would never hire a smoker, unless I already knew them and trusted them.

I use to be a smoker ( quit 6and a half years ago)and never allowed smoking or did i smoke in any of my limos.
I get people all the time who ask. Smokers are the ones who want to put the divider up, they think if you can't see them they can get away with it. They are also the ones that i tell the divider is broke (keep it locked out from up front).
I had one of my drivers rent the limo out for his son's friends wedding, they were all told ahead of time no smoking. First thing the groom did, light up, immediately pulled over told him to put it out, he refused, told him it;s not my wedding i;m not showing up for.